The actor — who played a boxer, a hard-bitten detective, a cynical reporter, Doc Holliday, Vincent Van Gogh and a French colonel — turned 100. NPR's Scott Simon looks back on Kirk Douglas' career.
Choreographer Christopher Wheeldon has a fresh take on the classic Christmas tale. The $4 million Joffrey Ballet production premieres Saturday, and doesn't center around a wealthy Victorian family.
This new anthology of science fiction and fantasy, edited by Hassan Blasim, imagines Iraq 100 years after the invasion of 2003. Harrowing, necessary, often beautiful, it resists comfort and catharsis.
Damien Chazelle's latest film is a modern take on classic 1930s musicals. It's the story of a musician and a frustrated actress, learning to reconcile their dreams with the reality of Hollywood life.
President-elect Donald Trump will retain a credit as executive producer of the reality TV show Celebrity Apprentice. The new season, with new "boss" Arnold Schwarzenegger, premieres January 2. NPR TV critic Eric Deggans says no one but Trump knows how involved he will be, but the news seems to contradict NBC's past assertion that it has severed business ties with Trump.
David Bianculli offers an appreciation of Tinker, who died last month. Also, we listen to a Fresh Air interview with Tinker from 1994, and an interview with Tinker's wife, Mary Tyler Moore, from 1995.
A jazz keyboardist and an aspiring actress fall in love in Damien Chazelle's new romantic musical. Critic David Edelstein says La La Land features thrilling chemistry and magical music numbers.